Axe (brand)

Axe/Lynx

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Product type	Men's grooming products
Owner	Unilever
Country	France
Introduced	1983
Related brands	Dove
Markets	Worldwide
Website	www.theaxeeffect.com www.lynxeffect.com

Axe (also known as Lynx in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and People's Republic of China) is a brand of male grooming products, owned by the British–Dutch company Unilever and marketed towards the young male demographic.

History

Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever. It was inspired by another of Unilever's brands, Impulse. Unilever introduced other products in the range but were unable to use the name Axe in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand due to trademark problems so it was launched as Lynx.

The European launch of the deodorant was followed by success in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the new millennium, the brand has launched with great success in the United States and Canada. The company has also consolidated its deodorant portfolio by migrating other overlapping male deodorants into the Lynx brand such as South Africa's Ego brand.

In January 2012, Unilever launched its first Axe/Lynx product for women in the United Kingdom as part of a global expansion of the previously men’s-only brand. The Line of products is named "Axe/Lynx Anarchy" (named "Attract" in the UK).

Products

Although Axe's lead product is the fragranced aerosol deodorant body spray, other formats of the brand exist. Within underarm care the following are available: deodorant aerosol body spray, deodorant stick, deodorant roll-on, anti-perspirant aerosol spray (called Axe Dry), and anti-perspirant stick (also called Axe Dry).

From its launch, the annual fragrance variant has played a key part in the success of the brand by offering something new each year. The type of fragrance variants have evolved over time. From 1983 until about 1989, the variant names were descriptions of the fragrances and included Musk, Spice, Amber, Oriental, and Marine.

From 1990 until 1996, geographic names for fragrances were used, such as Java, Alaska, Nevada, Africa, and Inca. From 1997 to 2002, Axe took inspiration from Calvin Klein fragrances (also owned by Unilever at that time), using the same fragrance consultant, Ann Gottlieb, to develop the scents to launch variants, such as Atlantis, Apollo, Voodoo, Phoenix, Gravity and Dimension..

In 2009, the brand launched an 8-centimeter container called the Axe Bullet. The brand has also extended into other areas such as shower gels, aftershaves, and colognes, skin care, shampoo, and hairstyling products. Failed extensions include Underwear, Barbershop and razors. Razors, facial hair styling products, and shaving cream are now sold again as of late 2012 and early 2013.

Most scent names usually have a shower gel to accompany them and sometimes an antiperspirant/deodorant stick and an aftershave lotion.

The 2009 frame has a mint scent.

The Axe Shampoos come in three different sizes, the regular and most seen 12 fl oz size and the travel or sample size of 1.7 fl oz, 22oz bottles were introduced recently.

Axe also ships a shower scrub tool called the Axe Detailer.

List of Axe deodorants

AXE's list of yearly body-spray variants is as follows. Limited edition or short-lived variants are listed in a following table below and others.

Year	Variant Name	Description	Notes	Year of Discontinuation
1983	Amber, or Ambre, or Sandal, or Magic Amber or Wild Spice or Epicee.	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	One of the first three variants that Axe launched, first in France. Discontinued	Unknown
1983	Musk, or Brave, or Moschus, or Wild Musk.	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	One of the first three variants that Axe launched, first in France. Available in Germany.	Present
1983	Spice or Agrest or Boise, or Blue Chypre or Fraiche.	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	One of the first three variants that Axe launched, first in France.
1985	Amber, Musk (Moschus in Germany), Spice	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	In this year, these three variants were used to launch the brand in the UK. Musk is still available in Argentina, Brazil, France, and Germany	Possibly late 90s
1987	Oriental or Orient or Dark Oriental	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	This was the first "new" variant that Axe launched and started a strategy of a yearly new variants.. Discontinued	Possibly late 90s
1989	Marine	Variant name is a description of fragrance.	As of 2013, still available in the Netherlands, Austria, France, Belgium, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and CENTCOM AAFES stores that stock from Europe.	Possibly late 90s
1990	Java	Variant named after the island in Indonesia.	Discontinued	Possibly 2002
1991	Alaska	Variant named after the state in the United States. Known as Tempest in South America.	Discontinued - still available in Germany.	Possibly 2002
1992	Nevada	Variant named after the state in the United States.	Discontinued	Possibly 2002
1993	Tempest		Discontinued	Possibly late 90s
1994	Mirage		Discontinued	Possibly late 90s
1995	Africa or African Amber or Native	Variant named after the continent.	The most popular variant of Axe, marketed as Kilo in North America and Native in Brazil. Africa is the most popular variant in the UK and has been for 16 years.	Present
1996	Inca or Aztec	A warm spicy fragrance named after the Inca civilization.	Discontinued	2002
1997	Atlantis or Energy		Still available in some countries	2004
1998	Apollo		Discontinued- Relaunched in UK 2013	2004
1998	Eclypse	Variant released only in South America.	Discontinued	2004
1999	Voodoo		Limited edition version released in the UK to cover the "Voodoo Eclipse" Dance Event marking the solar eclipse in 1999.	Present
1999	Hypnotic		The commercial asked if you believe in hypnosis, which was the effect of this axe scent.	2008
2000	Phoenix		Limited edition version released to cover the "Phoenix Legends" Dance Event in Ibiza, Spain in 2000.	Present
2000	Adrenalin or Accelerate or Orion	Not available as a shower gel.	Still available in some countries.	Present
2001	Gravity		The advertising featured a man falling to Earth.	Present
2002	Dimension	Also called Enygmata in some countries.		Present
2002	Apollo, Kilo, Phoenix, Tsunami or Maniac, Voodoo	Axe launched in U.S.	This is the line up that Axe launched within U.S.	n/a
2003	Pulse	A European variant suggests that it gives geeks added confidence so they can pull off crazy dance moves to impress girls and be irresistible.	Used the "Make Luv" dance track which reached number 1 in UK. Still available in some countries.	2008
2003	Essence or Fusion	A US variant	Used TV advertising that showed two sides to a man's relationship with women, also called Fusion in some countries.	Present
2003	Conviction	Join the world of conviction. Join the world of conquest. Because if you have conviction, no woman can say no. No woman who can turn her face. Because women like men safe. Unite to this world.	Used TV advertising that showed many men who are successful with women. At the end of the advertising there are thousands of men holding Axe Conviction and singing in a choir by a statue of a man also holding Axe Conviction.	Present
2004	Denim		Released In India as shaving cream, deodorant and aftershave.	2008
2004	Touch	A red blood color.	The TV advert features women getting more and more turned on	2008
2005	Unlimited	A light blue color.	Mimics the Chinese kung fu film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.	2007
2006	Click or Clix	Also called score in some countries.	This variant is portrayed as making men so attractive to women they will need a clicker to keep score of the number of women who check them out. Uses Nick Lachey in the advertising who is out-scored by a hotel worker who wears Clix. Axe gave away free clickers to promote the scent. The Lynx version uses Ben Affleck in the advertising instead of Nick Lachey.	Present
2007	Vice	Advertising implies that it will turn "nice girls naughty" thanks to the forbidden fruits in the fragrance. The Latin phrase virgo in flagrante delicto is printed in mirrored text on the spray, body wash, and deodorant stick.	Uses a Morgan Freeman lookalike in the advertising that mimics the style of a crime film. Still available in some countries.	2010
2008	Dark Temptation	A chocolate-smelling fragrance; advertising implies that because women like chocolate, they will find men who smell of chocolate irresistible	Advertising features a man who turns into chocolate when he sprays himself with Axe. He then goes on to be eaten by a series of women.	Present
2009	Instinct	The scent includes cardamom, amber, and atlas cedar to produce a spicy scent of leather.	The advertising campaign features a caveman who sprays the fragrance on himself and becomes irresistible to women. The tag line is "No one can resist a man in leather."	Present (UK: 2011)
2009	Wild Spice	Spice fragrance.	Not available as a shower gel yet.	Present
2010	Twist (TWIƧT) or Shift	Has a Citrus scent.	Spelled with a backwards S.	Present
2010	Music Star (Music in United States)	Has 'rock and roll' style fragrances.	Black, white and red can with guitar motif. Also the logo is changed for this fragrance only.	Present.
2010	Rise or Rise Up	Yellow can with blue splats and gray streaks.	Designed to wake guys up with exhilarating citrus extract helping to stimulate the senses and jump start the mind and body.	Present.
2010	Cool Metal	Blue and silver metallic can.	Designed to cool you down and make you feel ready for anything.	Present.
2011	Provoke or Excite or Provocation	Dark can with violet tribal tattoo pattern.	Initially released in the Dark Temptation gift set, but now as a lone product.	Present.
2012	Attract or Anarchy	Attract for him deodorant in a dark can with blue spray top.	Designed to attract women and cause chaos in the process.	Present.
2012	Young	Green can	Designed ?.	Discontinued.
2012	Mature	Red can	An irrestible smell that can even attract the most experienced women. Infinite female attention.	Discontinued.
2012	Excite	Pink can	Designed ?.	Present.
2012	Axe Anarchy for her	White can with pink details	This is the first product for woman of the Company.	Present
2013	Apollo	Dark can with turquoise spray top and lightning bolt logo.	This relaunched version has a fresher fragrance compared to the original.	Present.
2013	Deep Space	Similar can to "Apollo".	Possible variant or Limited Edition of "Apollo".	2013.
2013	Black Chill	Black and silver can.	Body spray has never been advertised.	Present.
2013	Peace	Dark can with "peace" sign	Make love, not war	Present.
2013	Harmony	Teal colored can with a peace sign	Launched alongside "Peace".	Present.
2014	Gold Temptation	Gold can with similar design as "Dark Temptation"	A compliment to "Dark Temptation".	Present.
2015	Black	Minimalistic designed can with very dark Axe logo	Subtle and finetuned smell: "less is more". Marketed with the Blackstage concerts.	Present

Axe Limited Edition chronology

Axe also launches limited edition variants from time to time that may be on sale for a few months or over a year.

Year	Limited Edition Name	Description	Notes	Year of Discontinuation
1998	Systeme or Skin Systeme	Limited edition fragrance that came out in South America.	Re-hydrating aftershave was released in the UK.	2000
2000	Millennium or Zero	Limited edition for the start of the new millennium.	Released in Australia and South America only.	2001
2001	White Label		Released in conjunction with the Euphoria White Label Music event, this limited edition variant was available in the UK for a short period of time.	2002
2002	Blue Ice	Cold and fresh fragrance.	?	2003
2004(?)	Relapse		Comes in a blue and black can.
2006	Lab	Eau de Toilette	The first original eau de toilette released in USA.	2010?.
2004	Air	Light fresh fragrance. Same scent as "Ready."	Available as a shower gel too. Still available in some stores.	2006
2005	Ready	Long-lasting effect makes you always ready for "action", blue colored can. Same scent as "Air."	Clearly states it's a very limited edition, came out with the willing scent.	2008
2005	Willing	Long-lasting effect makes you always willing for "adventure", green colored can.	Clearly states it's a very limited edition, came out with the ready scent.	2008
2006	Below 0 or Get Fresh	Cold and fresh fragrance.	Advertising shows a girl kissing a boy and the mouth of the girl gets frozen. Also available as a shower gel. Still available in some stores.	2009
2006 (?)	Silver Fusion	Exclusive to Germany.	A German variant, that came in an all silver can. A different fragrance to the American "Fusion" variant.	2007
2007	3	A pack of two cans of Axe. One is called one, the other is called two. Both should be sprayed together to make a new smell.		2009
2008	Recovery or Recover or Anti-Hangover	Citrus scent	One of the three scents released by Axe under limited edition status. Based on a shower gel and comes in shower gel and body spray form. Released in U.S. in 2009.	Present
2008	Shock	Ice mint scent	One of the three scents released by Axe under limited edition status. Based on a shower gel and comes in shower gel and body spray form. Released in U.S. in 2009.	Present (UK: 2011)
2009	Fever or Hot Fever	A fragrance infused with Brazilian hot mud and red dragon fruit extract.	One of the three scents released by Axe under limited edition status. Comes in shower gel and body spray form. Released in U.S. in 2009.	Present
2008	DRY Sharp Focus	An anti-perspirant, not available as deodorant body-spray. Only available as anti-perspirant body spray, deodorant stick, and roll-on. Fresh mint scent.	Advertising features a man that stays focused when he sprays himself with Axe. Is only available in DRY, not normal.	Present
2008	Jet	Sweet and fresh fragrance. Not available as a shower gel.	In the advertising is shown fake flying company with very sexy stewardesses. Still available in some stores and released for the first time in the UK in April 2011 and is exclusive to boots stores.	2008 (UK: Present)
2008	Day and Night	An deodorant to use for the day, and the other for the night.	Advertising says that one is suitable for everyday, the other is not. Night was released in the UK as a stand-alone Limited Edition exclusively available in Asda. A shower gel was also available.	2010 (UK: Night only: 2011)
2008	Boost or Ignite	Warm Guava Scent.	Based on a shower gel.	Present
2009	Heat	Warm Citrus Scent.	Available in Shampoo only. This Limited Edition Shampoo + Conditioner came out with Freeze anti-itch shampoo. The scent seems to rival the Fever body wash and body spray line of products.	Winter 2009
2009	Proximity sub-label: Amber, Bergamot, and Vetiver	Three scents under the Proximity name. Lighter, more sophisticated fragrances targeted at less juvenile men. Sold at a higher price than regular Axe range. Comes in body spray only.		2010
2009	Summer	Is a light variant, light and sweet lime fragrance.	Limited Edition, called "Cool Summer" in Australia	Fall/Autumn 2009
2009	Music Star Guitar and Music Star Drums	Available in South America	Is a repackaging of the Mirage fragrance from the 90's. Also available as a shower gel Body Spray Dry Anti-perspirant and shower gel are sold exclusive to Tesco in the UK and Ireland as Musicstar.	Present
2010	DRY+ Sensitive	Anti-Perspirant designed for sensitive skin.	Only available as an anti-perspirant and roll-on.	Present
2010	Play 2010	Available in Argentina and Chile	Many colors and PLAY2010 on the bottle.	Present
2010	ex_friends	This limited edition bottle is green, with a bolt on the middle	Available now in Central America.	Present
2010	Legend	Limited Edition Australian variant	Bottled in an all yellow bottle and used the famous Axe beach advertisement. Comes with a simply irresitable warning on the bottle.	Present
2010	Alpha	Limited Edition alpha male variant	Exclusively available in Boots stores in the United Kingdom. The shower gel is a re-released version of Transform	2011
2010	Full Control	Dry	Available in Argentina and Chile initially but now released widely.	Present
2011	Googly	Cricket Special Edition	Launched in India during ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.	Present
2011	2012	Limited Edition fragrance initially released in Mexico before a worldwide release.	Backed with a mythical ark marketing ploy illustrating the rumoured end of the world in 2012.	Present
2011	Absolute	Dry	An anti-perspirant available in South America.	Present
2011	Ciao	Australian Limited Edition deodorant	Only available in Coles Supermaket in Australia and features and Italian theme.	2011
2011	Sport Blast	Designed to re-energise after sport	Comes in an all blue bottle and released with a shower gel.	Present
2012	Attract or Anarchy For Her	Special edition of the popular fragrance	The first edition of Axe available for women.	Present
2012	Black collection	Eau de Toilette limited edition collection	An exclusive of 6 fragrances exclusively released on the UK Lynx Facebook page. The fragrance packs are loaded into a USB chargeable holder. Varieties are: Sunlight Seduction, Noon Temptation, Afternoon Intrigue, Evening Encounter, Midnight Embrace, Passion By Night.	Present
2013	Random	There are 3 fragances	The three bottles makes the name AXE.	Present
2013	Mature	It's a limited edition of the duo mature/young axe	The bottle is Red.	Present
2013	Anarchy For Her II	Uplifting and lively citrus	The second edition of Axe available for women.	Present
2013	Below Zero	Light blue bottle with frost surrounding the Axe name.	Probably a re-release of the 2006 Below-0 and Get Fresh.	Present

Axe shower gels

Year	Name	Description	Notes	Year of Discontinuation
2002	Shower Shake:Speed and Contact	Shower gel that contained both a shower gel and a moisturiser		Speed: Present Contact: 2006
2004	Recover or Anti-Hangover or After Hours	Citrus Scent	Also available as body spray.	2010
2004	Skin Contact:Sensitive, Hydrating, Purifying, Smoothing and Revitalizing	Smooths Skin	Sensitive is a newer version, with revitalizing being the newest.	Present
2004	Groove or Night Attack	Guarana scent with light musk and power beads. Also known as Transform.		Present (UK:2007)
2004	Sunrise	An orange shower gel designed to waken you up in the morning.		2007
2005	Re-Load	A blue coloured shower gel.		Present (UK:2007)
2006	Boost or Ignite	Warm Guava Scent	A red coloured shower gel, also available as body spray.	Present (UK:2010)
2006	Thai Massage		Present (UK: 2011)
2007	Shock	Icy Mint Scent		Present
2008	Snake Peel or Skin Resurrection	A mix of cactus oil and desert minerals.		Present (UK:2009)
2009	Hot Fever or Fever	A fragrance infused with Brazilian hot mud and red dragon fruit extract	It was promoted largely at T4 on the beach on 19 July 2009 which had the guy from the advert dance on stage with his dancers. The advert has got the slogan "Muchas Maracas", Maracas and the shower gel were given away during T4 to promote. Released in U.S. in 2009.	Present
2010	Rise or Rise Up	With Lime Extract	Also available as deodorant.	Present
2013	"Apollo and deep space"	Icy with a sharp deodorant smell	Was advertised in Indian celebrity cricket game and advertised in super bowl.	Present

Axe shampoos

Year	Name	Description	Notes	Year of Discontinuation
2000	Control	The first shampoo released by Lynx UK.	Part of a major re-brand that included razor blades and barbor products	2002
2000	Energise or Energy	Peppermint shampoo.	Part of a major re-brand that included razor blades and barbor products. Re-Released as a shaving gel.	2004
2008	Constrict or Clean & Control	Shampoo that de-poofs your hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Dual or 2 in 1	Shampoo and conditioner.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Intense or Deep Clean	Removes product build-up and scrubs your hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Armor or Anti-Dandruff	Removes dandruff from hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Primed or Just Clean	Just shampoo.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Lure or Just Soft	Just conditioner.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2009	Freeze or Itch Relief	Soothes the itch and gets rid of flakes.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products. This shampoo seems to follow the Shock line of products.	Present
2009	Heat	2 in 1 shampoo + conditioner. Warm citrus scent.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products. This shampoo has been marketed under Limited Edition status! This shampoo supposedly follows the Fever line of products.	Winter 2009/Re-Released
2010	Zen	Gets you calm and centered so you can focus on the day (or night) ahead.	Part of a new set.	Present
2010	Downpour	Gives you a refreshing clean so you're ready for whatever lies ahead.	Part of a new set.	Present

Axe hair stylers

Year	Name	Description	Notes	Year of Discontinuation
2000	Short Stuff Wax	Designed for short hair.	Initially released in 2000 then re-released as part of the Axe Hair range.	2004
2002	Control Freak Styling Gel	Helps keep you hair under control.	Part of the Axe Hair Range.	2004
2000	Invisible Hair Gel	Clear hair gel.	Part of the Axe Hair Range.	2004
2008	Charged or Spiked-Up Look	Spikes up your hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Laid Back or Shaggy Look	Gives you an easy looking hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Whatever or Messy Look	Gives you a messy look.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2008	Refined or Clean-Cut Look	Gives you a clean cut, polished looking hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2009	Sleek or Smooth & Sophisticated Look	Provides extra shine and control so that you can get sophisticated hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2010	Natural & Understated Look	For a light hold and natural looking hair.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2010	Crew Cut & Buzzed Look	A buzzed look that's soft and protected with SPF15.	Part of the Axe hair crisis relief products.	Present
2011	Hold + Touch: Spiking Glue	Spikes up your hair. For normal hair	Part of the Axe Hold + Touch range, released as Strong Cream Gel in Europe.	Present
2011	Hold + Touch: Cream Wax	Spikes up your hair. For thick hair	Part of the Axe Hold + Touch range, released as Extra Strong Cream Gel in Europe.	Present
2011	Hold + Touch: Paste	Spikes up your hair. For fine hair	Part of the Axe Hold + Touch range.	Present

Marketing

From 2003, Axe advertisements portrayed various ways the products supposedly helped men attract women. In 2003, the advertising in the UK for the Pulse fragrance showed how it supposedly gave geeky men the confidence to dance to get women. In 2005, Consumer Expert Dr. Vince Wong, CEO of Insights Interactive, was hired to help explore cross cultural behavioral motivations of their young male adult consumers. This fed into development of the brand globally, resulting in award winning global communication campaigns.[1]. This was followed by Touch, Unlimited, Clix, and in 2007, Vice was marketed on a theme of making "nice" women become "naughty".

PR controversies

Adverse publicity has been generated by the product's advertisements for encouraging sexual promiscuity and sexism. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood claimed that Bartle Bogle Hegarty's work on Axe "epitomizes the sexist and degrading marketing that can undermine girls' healthy development."

File:Axe Apollo Space Academy-Astronaut Countries.png

Axe selected 23 astronauts for their Axe Apollo Space Academy, with the 23 countries represented being marked in color.

On January 12, 2008 12-year-old Daniel Hurley from Derbyshire, England died in a hospital five days after collapsing at his home. The medical coroner ruled that he had suffered from cardiac arrhythmia and died from heart failure as a result of spraying large amounts of Lynx in a confined space. Videos on social networking sites depicted teens setting themselves on fire. The trend resulted in multiple injuries. After these incidents occurred, the company created two ads, one against the use of Axe as an inhalant, and the other warning of its flammability.

Axe Apollo Space Academy (AASA)

Axe initiated a marketing campaign whereby the company would select people in a worldwide contest to become astronauts who would fly sub-orbital space missions aboard the XCOR Lynx spaceplane. On December 5, 2013, Axe announced the 23 space cadets who had won the extensive training competition held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The winners were from 23 different countries, some which had never been an astronaut before. The suborbital rides may to take place after the as yet unbuilt Lynx rocket has passed flight test objectives.

External links

• Official Axe website
• Official Lynx website
• Axe Hair Crisis website, an Official Unilever Axe site